Dell Dimension L800r 800MHz 128RAM I was running Ad-Aware on my parents computer to help fight the N-Case/1800 Solutions "msbb" spyware. Ad-Aware was able to catch a number of problem, but then it said that it could not remove certain dll's without scanning on a reboot. So I reboot, and Ad-Aware does it's thing, finding more spyware this time around. Windows then boots up, but not to the regular desktop...it looks like the default desktop. Then a window comes up telling me that there is a problem with the registry, which will be fixed upon reboot. So I reboot the computer, and I get the ever so popular: Invalid System Disk Replace the disk, and then press any key So I make some phone calls to Dell and Disksavers. I run a bunch of tests which apparently tell me that my HD is fine, but my operating system is corrupted. So I go to bootdisk.com and download the ME file to a 3 1/2 floppy on my XP laptop. I then set up the boot order as follows: Floppy ARMD-FDD ATAPI CDROM IDE-HDD But, no love. The screen tells me: Non-System disk or disk error Replace and strike any key when ready I even try switching the Floppy and the ARMD-FDD in the boot sequence. Again, no love. I just can't seem to get to the prompt where I can run scanreg/restore. Can somebody help me out with this?

hello boot to bios set floppy as first boot device. see if you can make the m.e boot disk on m.e or 98 machine. xp seems to sometimes screw up floppys. ••• Resistance is invigorating! •••kill spyware

Hi all " So I go to bootdisk.com and download the ME file to a 3 1/2 floppy" If that is what you did , you did it wrong. the file you downloaded is a program to make floppy boot disks, you must download it to the hdd and then run it , with a blank floppy in drive.

Little update: So I found an ME bootdisk in a pile of stuff under the desk. I set Floppy as the first boot, and it gives me a menu with: 1. Help 2. Start Computer with CD-ROM upport 3. Start Computer without CD-ROM support 4. Minimal Boot I first check out the help readme. Then I do a full scan disk to see if I have any problems. It finds nothing. So I try to restore the system (typing in scanreg/restore). It tells me that the system has been restored to an early time with no errors. But when I try to restart the computer....I still get the "Invalid System Disk message." So I try to restore it again from a different date. Same deal. The thing is that now the three earliest restore points are gone (I tried to restore 3 different times) and are replaced by three new restore points (the last two were old ones): 03/08/04 Not Started 03:17:16pm rb001.cab 03/08/04 Not Started 01:22:50pm rb005.cab 03/08/04 Not Started 01:17:49pm rb000.cab 03/06/04 Started rb004.cab 03/05/04 Started rb003.cab So basically, I've figured that it's not a problem with my HD, it's a problem with the Windows ME. But I am still not able to restore. Any answers?

The problem with n-case & msbb.exe is it will not delete if it's running. If you start the PC in safe mode and run Spybot (Ad-Aware also probably), it will delete. (msbb.exe is inside the n-case folder). N-case can (and does) download more rubbish onto the PC. It may also report an error message relating to wininet.dll on systems that don't have a Winint library (not sure what this is about)? If you can use 'System Restore' from DOS, you may be able to have another go at removing this rubbish. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=279736 restore windows from DOS http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=221512 restore registry from DOS Here is a link I used a few months ago..... http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/ncase.html Lastly, for my bit... "Invalid System Disk Replace the disk, and then press any key" I would expect to see this message if either you have left the floppy in the drive or BIOS could no-longer detect the hard drive. Can you go into BIOS and set it to automatically detect the hard drive settings (number of cylinders, heads etc). I don't know if this COULD change, but I have swapped hard drives over from one PC to another and get this message (till I go into BIOS etc). Best of luck I will be watching this post.

People have told me that since my HD seems to be fine, I could take out the HD and put it into any computer running ME, save the files I need onto a floppy, and replace everything....eventually re-installing ME on my computer. Does this actually work, or are people BS'ing me. Also, is there a way to save files from the HD to a floppy disk with the ms-dos prompts?

Floppies only hold around 1mb of data. The average music file would be around 3mb. You would not ba able to save much. I have 'slaved' a non-working HD to my own PC. On booting up, BIOS asked me to confirm there was another drive fitted, then Windows loaded up and the new (faulty) HD showed up in 'My Computer' as drive D:\ and the CD drive became drive letter E:\. I opened drive D:\ then copied & pasted the wanted files to my own drive c:\ then burned them to a CD-R. I don't think you will have to do this. Have you tried..... Response Number 4- go into BIOS and set it to automatically detect the hard drive settings (number of cylinders, heads etc). If you put this 'failed' HD into another PC, you will still have to do the above... go into BIOS and set it to automatically detect the hard drive settings........ Unless it IS FAULTY, but then you would have to slave it and use the working drive to power up the PC. It's my bedtime now but I will be back on line tomorrow evening to see how you get on.